What's Brewing in Tuscany?

Known for its wine, the region now brims with craft beer

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IT'S HOPPING: On the road to Val d'Orcia.
Frank Krahmer/Corbis

By

Joel Weickgenant

June 6, 2013 4:36 p.m. ET

AS CLAUDIO CERULLO rounds a curve through verdant Tuscan hills peppered with vineyards known for Brunellos and Rosso di Montalcinos, bottles clink noisily against each other in crates at the back of his SUV. The bottles, though, aren't filled with the product of the area's prized wineries. They're full of beer.

Mr. Cerullo is co-owner of Birra Amiata, a family-run craft brewery that opened in 2006. With his brother, Gennaro, Mr. Cerullo has propelled Amiata to become one of the most appreciated of Tuscany's fledgling bunch of craft brewers. The quality hops and barley are generally imported, but the secret to Amiata's success relies on the same recipe that has long lent prestige to Tuscan wines: A deep attention to terroir—a devotion to the peculiar ingredients that can be locally sourced. In this case, above all, chestnuts. "We're one of only two breweries brewing chestnut beer all year round," Mr. Cerullo says.

Chestnuts have long played a role in the collective memory of the Amiata mountain area, with their harvest serving as a time marker for centuries. It is a legacy the brewery now heralds with at least three regularly produced varieties of beer chock-a-block with chestnuts. "The trend among those who do make beer with chestnuts is to use few chestnuts, which leaves it lacking in flavor," Mr. Cerullo says.

Even within Italy, Tuscany is a latecomer to the craft brew scene. "It's a new thing here," says Antony Petti, co-owner of Archea, a pub in Florence that serves craft beers. "Compared with Rome, especially, they just started making beer in Tuscany."

Now, blending outside influences with the gastronomical good sense that is their heritage, a number of small local breweries are giving visitors to Tuscany ample reason to raise a pint instead of a wine glass.

Birra Amiata

Bastarda Doppia, red beer with 40% chestnuts, Amiata region

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Bastarda Doppia, red beer with 40% chestnuts, Amiata region

Mr. Cerullo touts a simple philosophy: "Make good beer and make it well, and eventually [Italians] won't want to drink industrial beer anymore."

Based in the Mount Amiata town of Arcidosso, Amiata draws heavily on the mountain's history for inspiration.

Each label tells a specific tale. The Contessa American Pale Ale and the Aldobrandesca wheat are named for members of a family who were once influential in the area, while the Cinabro aged barley wine pays homage to Amiata's mining industry and the locals who labored in it.

The most interesting beers Amiata makes are its line of Bastarda beers, named after a local chestnut varietal. The Bastarda Doppia, classified as a red, has a deep, porter-like brown finish and toasted coffee notes, with the chestnuts prevailing in a satisfying, long-lasting aftertaste, sweetened by the restrained use of hops.

Piccolo Birrificio Clandestino

Santa Giulia, an American brown ale, Livorno region

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Santa Giulia, an American brown ale, Livorno region

Founder Pierluigi Chiosi says chaos was unleashed in 2011 when Santa Giulia, a brown ale whose smooth, full-bodied malt can ease the worst heat of the Tuscan summer, won a prize in its category at a national competition hosted by UnionBirrai.

Livorno's first artisanal brewery, Mr. Chiosi's brainchild, grew out of a passion for homebrewing. The name of the brewery, which translated means "The Small Clandestine Brewery," was inspired by his early homebound experiments, in which he treated friends to his creations and perfected the balance for Santa Giulia—heavier on the malt, leaving little space for the hops. The beer is named after Livorno's patron saint.

"My friends had nicknamed me the clandestine brewer, and the name stuck," Mr. Chiosi says. He and a group of friends opened a pub in Livorno in 2010, but didn't start bottling their beer until winning the award the following year.

Birrificio L'Olmaia

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La 9, double-malt amber

La 9, double-malt amber

"They considered us crazies, idiots, aliens," says Moreno Ercolani, speaking of the reaction acquaintances had to his idea of setting up a small brewery at a casale in the heart of Val d'Orcia, whose hilltop medieval burgs and cypress-lined hills epitomize rural Tuscany.

Since opening the brewery in 2004, Mr. Ercolani, the co-founder and brew master, has reveled in this sort of iconoclasm-by-default, conquering local markets with—and exporting—flavorful but elegantly bottled brews.

He plays down the time-honored obsession with abbinamento, or pairing. L'Olmaia, as Mr. Ercolani describes it, is about the joy of beer, of making it and drinking it. That joy is evident in the label's brews.

Take La 9. Upon pouring, it draws the eye with a thick resin color and an even, persistent head of foam. Fermented in the bottle, La 9, a Belgian-style ale, is dry and crisp with hints of citrus and goes down with a warmth that surpasses even its 6.8% alcoholic content.

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